Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev attended the BRICS summit held in Kazan, Russia, on Oct. 22-24, 2024. Azerbaijan applied for membership in BRICS on Aug. 4, and Türkiye applied at the beginning of September.
In his speech in Kazan, Aliyev described the application for membership of BRICS as part of multilateralism in Azerbaijani foreign policy. Indeed, although Azerbaijan has signed joint declarations on an alliance with Russia and strategic cooperation with China, founding countries of BRICS, it has also signed an alliance agreement with Türkiye, a NATO member, and agreements or declarations on strategic cooperation with 10 European member states. Further, considering that between 2019 and 2024 Azerbaijan chaired the Non-Aligned Movement, described as the "third pole" of relations during the Cold War, it is possible to see more clearly what BRICS means in the country’s foreign policy. In this context, Azerbaijan wants to be a platform for cooperation between the Global South and the Global North, a principle that is a necessity in terms of balanced and independent foreign policy principles.
In contrast, Azerbaijan’s independent policy of recent years, which culminated in it ending a 30-year occupation and re-establishing its sovereignty, has led to an increase in Western-centered attacks. On the day President Ilham Aliyev attended the BRICS summit, the European Parliament adopted an unjust resolution against Azerbaijan. Parliament, which remained silent for the 30 years for which Azerbaijani lands were under occupation, baselessly accuses Azerbaijan of occupying Armenian territory.
The leaders of Azerbaijan and Armenia responded to these attacks with friendly displays and bilateral talks at the BRICS summit. Indeed, after this meeting, the official statement issued on behalf of both leaders announced that they had instructed their foreign ministers to accelerate the process of signing an agreement on establishing peace and diplomatic relations. Moreover, the two presidents approved the border commission’s guidelines for the delimitation and demarcation of national boundaries.
Furthermore, we can postulate that Azerbaijan’s cooperation with the BRICS countries will contribute to several goals: It is a part of Azerbaijan’s recent foreign policy initiative in Asia, increasing the number of allies against possible major attacks in an age of global uncertainty; maintaining the strategic balance in the region; keeping global transportation routes open through Azerbaijan; and ensuring balance in foreign trade relations. BRICS thus represents an opportunity for Azerbaijan in all four of these aspects.
BRICS is an economic power. Of the founding countries, China ranks first in the world in economic terms, India third, Russia fifth, Brazil eighth and South Africa ranks 23rd. According to data from the Azerbaijan Customs Committee, the three founding countries of BRICS, Russia, China and India, occupy third, fourth and fifth place in Azerbaijan’s foreign trade.
In addition, the trade volume with all three countries has been increasing rapidly in recent years. For example, the trade volume with Russia was $3 billion in 2021 and $4.5 billion by the end of 2023; with China, for the respective years, it was $1.78 billion and $3.1 billion; and with India, it was $739 million in 2021 and $1.435 million by the end of 2023. Thus, the trade volume with Russia and China increased by approximately 50%, while with India, it increased by 100%. Among the countries that aim to become members of BRICS, Türkiye is in second place in Azerbaijan’s foreign trade volume, and its trade volume increased from $4.5 billion in 2022 to $7.5 billion in 2023. It is expected that these figures for trade volumes with BRICS countries will continue to increase in the future.
Transport relations with BRICS countries are also important for Azerbaijan. In recent years, the importance of Azerbaijan in the east-west and north-south transport routes has increased in the face of global conflicts and geopolitical developments. In particular, a wide range of factors have increased the importance of the Middle Corridor, where Azerbaijan is located, as well as the north-south corridor. These include the closure of many countries' borders due to COVID-19, pirate attacks on cargo ships on the high seas, sanctions imposed by the European Union on Russian transport routes owing to the Russia-Ukraine war, and the threat to ships in the Red Sea from the Houthis. Indeed, Aliyev drew attention to the importance of both transport routes in his speech at the Kazan summit, while Russian President Vladimir Putin stated that Azerbaijan is the "right address" for transport. Therefore, the goal of becoming a recognized transit country is the main reason for developing relations with BRICS.
At the BRICS meeting, Aliyev met with the president of the New Development Bank (NDB), which was established by the BRICS countries and has an investment capacity of $100 billion. They discussed the role of international financial institutions in COP29, to be held in Azerbaijan, and financial support for climate action, thus discussing the role that the NDB could take in the country before Baku hosts COP29. What makes cooperation with this bank remarkable for Azerbaijan is that, at least for now, this bank does not make any political demands on the countries it supports.
This is not the first activity between Azerbaijan and Asian banks. The Azerbaijani government received a loan of $600 million from the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB), established as part of China’s Belt and Road Initiative, for constructing the Trans-Anatolian Natural Gas Pipeline Project (TANAP).
To conclude, cooperation with BRICS also means cooperation with the individual countries represented there. While Azerbaijan expects more economic benefits from this cooperation, politically, it is a part of the multilateralism of Azerbaijan`s foreign policy.
As for the tangible benefits of the Kazan summit for Azerbaijan, Azerbaijan did indeed achieve a concrete result at the BRICS summit in Kazan. This is the support given to Azerbaijan as host of the COP29 summit. According to the Kazan Declaration, the BRICS countries are committed to a successful COP29 in Azerbaijan.
